1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for binding pages together, and, more particularly, to such systems and methods for binding individual books.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of different techniques are known for binding books. At one end of the spectrum is the so-called perfect binding technique used for paperback books. Individual page sheets are bound directly to the inside of the spine of the cardboard cover using a hot-melt adhesive that is solid at room temperature. Perfect binding is suitable for paperback books produced in large quantities. The high-volume machines used for perfect binding are very large and costly and must be set up for each run of books, a time-consuming process which often results in making trial copies that must be discarded. High-volume perfect binding machines are not practical for running single copies of books such as those downloaded from the Internet.
Thermal tape is another means for binding books and is often employed as a finishing operation for high volume xerographic duplicators. The pages are individual sheets, usually 8xc2xdxc3x9711 inches, and the covers are cardboard sheets of the same size as the pages. Paper tape coated on one side with hot-melt adhesive forms the spine of the book and the adhesive is activated as it passes over heated surfaces inside the machine. It is difficult to print the title and author""s name on the spine unless pasted on in a separate label. While thermal tape is a convenient method for binding small lots of booklets such college course packs, such booklets do not offer the aesthetic appeal of high quality bound volumes.
There are various other means for binding small quantities of books using staples, plastic combs, wire spirals, and plastic posts, none of which provide the look and feel of a fine bound volume.
A preferred method for binding books is the traditional cloth binding technique used for hardcover books. The pages are printed on large sheets called signatures, which are then folded, sewed and glued together, and then trimmed. The cover consists of front and back cardboard pieces encased in decorative cloth binding material, which also forms the hinges and outer spine. Cloth binding has advantages of quality appearance, durability, and ease of page turning, since the pages are glued to a flexible inner cloth spine that is fastened to the outer spine only at its edges. Like perfect binding, cloth binding is a high-volume process involving the use of large and costly machines, and is therefore not suitable for binding single copies. There are a few craftsmen who specialize in custom binding or repairing single cloth bound books, but such work is highly skilled and expensive.
At the high end of the spectrum are leather bound books. Produced by a process similar to cloth binding, leather bound books offer the ultimate in luxurious appearance.
It is known in the art to heat a hot-melt adhesive onto page edges to bind a book with an external heater (Decker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,366; Snellmann et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,078; Wiermanski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,330; Uehara, U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,510; Podosek, U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,155; Hartwig et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,938; Yamaguchi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,423). It is also known to heat a hot-melt adhesive coated on an electrically resistive layer applied to the inner surface of a report binder (Vercillo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,573; Akopian, FR 2,546,822) with the use of a power supply (Nanos et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,859).
It is also known to use a microwave-activatable adhesive to bind books, with the adhesive placed between a sheaf of papers and the binder (Bhatia et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,176).
Additionally, it is known to employ individual book-binding apparatus following the printing of a book from a storage medium such as a database (Ross, U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,213).
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for binding an individual book.
It is an additional object to provide such a system and method that can create a book with a plurality of cover types.
It is a further object to provide such a system and method that can create a book having a desired shape of the front and rear page surface.
It is another object to provide such a system and method that can create a paperback book having superior page-turning properties.
It is yet an additional object to provide such a system and method that can create a book having a reinforced binding for improved durability.
It is yet a further object to provide such a system and method for producing a bound book having superior aesthetic qualities.
It is yet another object to provide a system and method capable of accommodating tolerances in page dimensions while achieving a secure binding.
These objects and others are attained by the present invention, a system and method for binding a stack of pages along a first edge thereof to form a book. The system comprises an adhesive having a melting temperature and an elongated strip coated on at least a portion of a first side with the adhesive. The strip has two opposed ends and an electrical resistivity between the ends. The strip is dimensioned to substantially cover the first edge of the stack, with the first side against the first edge of the stack.
The system additionally comprises means for introducing an electrical current to pass along the strip between the ends. The current should be sufficient to create enough heat in the strip to achieve a temperature at least as great as the melting temperature of the adhesive. This enables melting the adhesive to bind the stack of pages together along the first edge.